BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Buys Shares of 7,000 Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM)

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Autohome during the 2nd quarter valued at $22,501,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Autohome by 14.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,440,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $121,859,000 after acquiring an additional 568,474 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Autohome by 106.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 683,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,284,000 after acquiring an additional 351,789 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC boosted its stake in shares of Autohome by 9.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,384,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $111,701,000 after acquiring an additional 296,107 shares during the period. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autohome by 10.7% in the second quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 2,816,972 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $77,326,000 after acquiring an additional 272,092 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ATHM. Hsbc Global Res raised Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. CLSA lowered shares of Autohome from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Autohome Price Performance

NYSE ATHM opened at $27.51 on Friday. Autohome Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.89 and a 1-year high of $34.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.18.

Autohome declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 4th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Autohome Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Autohome’s previous Variable dividend of $0.57. This represents a dividend yield of 5.8%. Autohome’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

About Autohome

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People’s Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.